Intro
I’m writing a series of trans primers, where I’ll compile resources on how the transgender movement hurts women. My goal is to support gender-critical feminists trying to persuade their loved ones; finding evidence can take time, and I want to save you the effort. In my first trans primer, I provided evidence that trans ideology endangers women by destroying single-sex spaces. In Part Two, I’ll tackle the systematic attacks on fair competition in women’s sports.
If you want to convince a friend that the trans movement is misogynistic, explaining trans attacks on women’s sports is a powerful argument. It’s a highly visible example of males erasing women in public life - stealing their spot on the team, their scholarships, and their trophies. Also, lots of people know a woman who’s competed in high school or collegiate sports, so this is an issue that hits close to home.
Sports are about physical prowess and “gender identity” exists in the mind, so it’s unclear why trans-identified males think they have the right to compete against females. If “transwomen’s” mental health is contingent on violating women’s boundaries, that’s not an excuse to give them everything they want. Sadly, these males have been “affirmed” by sporting bodies around the world, and this primer records the damage to women’s opportunities, safety, and privacy. If you have anything to add, you can email me at aster@fearbedamned.com. I’ll update this piece and credit you with the information. Without further ado, let’s get into it.
Table of Contents:
The inconvenient reality of males invading women’s sports -
Resources to address common BS arguments -
Conclusion: Why unfairness in women’s sports matters
Part I: Your Lying Eyes
Trans activists claim that there’s no way males competing in women’s sports could disadvantage women. No normal person would come to that conclusion after two minutes of observing what this looks like in practice. If you’re trying to persuade a loved one on this issue, it’s often enough to show them real-life examples of males invading women’s sports. So, that’s where I’ll start.
Podium Photos -
Podium photos of males winning women’s competitions have gone viral, because of the obvious size and strength disparities between the “transwoman” and his competitors. It’s also particularly glaring to see geriatric male athletes triumphing over women decades younger, as you’ll see in some of the photos below. I’ve collected a few images that illustrate the absurdity particularly well:
These cheating athletes’ personal stories are particularly damning, so here are some links with more information:
Lia Thomas: Thomas repeatedly failed to make the first team when competing in Men’s Swimming and Diving at UPenn, but managed to break multiple records competing with women. He was ranked No. 462 as a male swimmer, then rose to No. 1 after “transitioning.”
CeCe Telfer: In 2017, Telfer ranked 390th among male NCAA Division II athletes in the 400m hurdles category. He “transitioned” and became the national NCAA Division II women's 400m hurdle champion in 2019.
Laurel Hubbard: Hubbard qualified for the Olympics at age 43 in super heavyweight Olympic weightlifting; in contrast, no woman over 35 had competed in that category in at least two decades.
Also, as an example of how privileged this so-called “oppressed group” is: Hubbard was involved in a car accident that seriously injured an elderly couple. He pled guilty to a charge of careless driving, but his name was suppressed from the media for months to help him avoid stress while training for the Olympics
Tiffany Thomas: Thomas, a competitive cyclist, began racing in his early 40s. Since then, he’s won at least 20 races in 5 years, regularly defeating female competitors decades younger than him.
Tara Seplavy: Seplavy, also a competitive cyclist, beat the second-place winner by a 12 second margin in the race depicted above. Like Tiffany Thomas, 48-year-old Seplavy is miraculously able to defeat female cyclists decades younger than him; the second place winner in that photo was 15.
After Seplavy received backlash for competing in women’s sports, he posted an Instagram photo holding a trans-colored baseball bat while glaring menacingly at the camera
Trans Athletes Injuring Women -
When biological males are allowed to compete against females, women aren’t just at risk of losing their trophies. These males have a significant advantage in size and strength, which can result in brutal injuries for female athletes. The following women were casualties of “trans inclusion.” I’ve included video, though it’s upsetting, because it viscerally illustrates the injustice:
Tamikka Brents: Brents fought MMA fighter Fallon Fox, a trans-identified male, in 2014. Fox sent Brents to the hospital with a crushed skull. He later tweeted: “[J]ust so you know, I enjoyed it. See, I love smacking up TEFs (sic) in the cage who talk transphobia nonsense”. Video here.
Guam rugby players: In 2022, a trans-identified male playing high school rugby injured three women on the opposing team. The women’s coach said that the male athlete’s “body size, body strength … completely dominate any girl that I have on my team.” A clip from the match linked here.
Payton McNabb: McNabb, a North Carolina high schooler, was injured playing volleyball against a trans-ID male athlete in 2023. He spiked a ball at her head, hard enough to knock her unconscious; she faced lasting symptoms of partial paralysis, impaired vision, and headaches. Video here.
Massachusetts field hockey: An unnamed high school student in MA played field hockey against a trans-ID male in 2023. He shot a field hockey ball at her face, knocking her teeth out and causing significant facial injuries. Video here.
Australian soccer: In 2023, Riley Dennis, a trans-ID male, was accused of injuring multiple female players in a women’s soccer league. You can see video here of an aggressive tackle from Dennis; his female opponent was so badly injured she was unable to train for days.
The Flying Bats: Dennis later joined the Flying Bats, a team with five trans-identified males (including him). In the 2022 season, a male playing for the Flying Bats broke a female player’s leg in two places with a clumsy tackle; she’s no longer playing soccer as a result. In 2024, the president of St. Patrick’s Football Club said 20 women had deregistered from his team, explicitly citing concerns about playing against males on the Flying Bats.
Massachusetts basketball: In 2024, a trans-ID male playing high school basketball injured two female players on the opposing team, ultimately causing them to forfeit the match. Video of one of the fouls here.
This same male also competed for a private rowing club in MA before being suspended for sexual harassment. He “was caught staring openly at one of the female athletes while she changed her clothes in the women’s locker room and remarked, ‘oooh t*tties!’ ”.
Testimony Against Lia Thomas -
When males invade women’s sports, female athletes’ privacy is fundamentally compromised. No example demonstrates this more clearly than Lia Thomas, a trans-identified male who dominated the 2022 NCAA Swimming Championship. Thomas changed in the women’s locker room, rather than an individual family bathroom, although he retained male genitalia. In other words, he exposed himself to females and required them to undress in front of him; none of his teammates or competitors were ever asked for consent. Here are testimonies from women who describe the violation of this experience:
Paula Scanlan: Scanlan was one of Thomas’ teammates on the UPenn women’s swim team. She discusses how sharing a locker room with a male triggered her trauma as a sexual assault survivor: “I would be at my locker and then all of a sudden hear a masculine voice, and I would just jump . . . I had nightmares for weeks about men being there while we were dressing.”
NCAA lawsuit: Over a dozen female athletes filed a class-action lawsuit against the NCAA for letting male athletes compete against them and use female locker rooms. The lawsuit centers on the harms inflicted on women forced to compete against Thomas.
Kylee Alons, who swam for North Carolina State, changed in a “dimly lit storage and utility closet” under the bleachers to protect her privacy
Kaitlynn Wheeler, who swam for the University of Kentucky, described her discomfort: “Never in my 18-year career had I seen a man changing in the locker rooms. I immediately felt the need to cover myself”
If you’re trying to persuade a liberal friend about the dangers of this ideology, they probably agree with #BelieveWomen. There is no consistency between advocating that and ignoring testimony from women who say their privacy has been violated.
Mediocre Males Dominating Female Athletics -
Whenever gender-critical feminists bring up the danger of mediocre men transitioning and dominating women’s sports, trans activists dismiss it as fear-mongering. This excellent, fact-checked thread, from an activist who goes by ripx4nutmeg on Twitter, gives lie to that. She compiles 62 different examples of unremarkable male athletes who dominated women’s sports after transitioning. The thread is worth reading in its entirety, but here are some examples that stand out:
Until 2017, Tiffany Abreu was a men’s volleyball player in Brazil without a particularly notable record. He “transitioned” in 2017; in 2018, he broke the Brazil's women's Superliga’s single game scoring record against a team that contained three Olympic gold medalists.
Until 2020, Kate Weatherly competed in the New Zealand men's downhill mountain bike open division (the grade below elite) but failed to win any events. He “transitioned” in 2020 and won the New Zealand elite women's national championship in 2021.
Women’s cycling has become uniquely dominated by trans-identified male athletes. A gender-critical activist who goes by i_heart__bikes on Twitter created this master thread, which contains information on 26 male athletes who compete with women.
In 2021, high school cross-country runner Aspen Hoffman competed as a male and finished 72nd in the Seattle Academy’s boys’ league. He “identified” as a girl in 2022 and broke the Seattle Academy’s school record in the girls’ 5000 meter category, rising to 1st in the girls’ league.
This article has more information on how many male athletes are dominating girls’ sports at the high school level.
Part II: Gaslighting Galore
I think the reality of males competing in women’s sports should be enough evidence to convince anyone of the unfairness at play here. After all, given the staggering physical size and strength differences between males and females, the burden of proof is on trans-ID males to show they can fairly compete. But if your friend has heard propaganda arguments online, here are some helpful resources for refuting them.
“There aren’t that many trans athletes”
Trans activists use this argument all the time to gaslight the public. “Trans athletes are so rare, what does it even matter?” First of all, if “just one” male athlete is allowed to compete, he hurts every single woman he displaces in a competition. So, even “a few” matter. Also, it really isn’t a few. Shewon.org is a vital resource documenting how many female athletes have been robbed of their trophies by males. The site itself isn’t all-inclusive, but they’ve documented 795 instances where women have lost a first, second or third prize trophy to a male. Notably, there are no instances of trans-identified females smashing records and dominating men’s sports, because sex is real.
“They don’t always win”
This is another bizarre piece of propaganda. If a trans-ID male who competes with women doesn’t always win, activists will claim that means the competition is fair. It really doesn’t! An athlete can have unfair advantages and still lose due to sheer mediocrity. This excellent thread from Kim Shasby Jones, co-founder of ICONS (Independent Council on Women's Sports), deconstructs this argument in more detail. She skewers the hypocrisy of policies on “trans inclusion” compared to those governing doping, adults competing with children, etc.
“Trust The Science™”
Trans activists frequently distort scientific studies to make misleading or outright false arguments about males in women’s sports. The idea that males can compete fairly with women is obviously unscientific; we have no meaningful evidence that testosterone suppression can undo the advantages conferred by male puberty. Still, they continue trying to gaslight us, so here are some helpful resources:
Ross Tucker: Tucker is a sports scientist with a PhD in Exercise Physiology. In the thread linked here, he refutes the common activist claim that testosterone levels aren’t actually linked to performance (yes, they have tried this).
Sarah Barker: Many activists love to cite a highly misleading 2015 study by trans-identified male Joanna Harper. Sarah Barker is a veteran journalist who thoroughly debunks Harper’s work in the piece linked here.
Independent Women’s Forum: The IWF released an excellent report broadly assessing the issue of male athletes in women’s sports. On p. 25 - 40, you can find a summary of studies showing male physiological advantages over females and why testosterone suppression doesn’t erase them.
The IWF’s report is a review of existing research; if you’d like to show your friend individual studies, here are a few:
Muscle strength, size and composition following 12 months of gender-affirming treatment in transgender individuals: retained advantage for the transwomen: This 2019 study found no loss in muscle strength for trans-identified males after 1 year of testosterone suppression. This thread, by the organization Fair Play for Women, summarizes key take-aways.
Effect of gender affirming hormones on athletic performance in transwomen and transmen: implications for sporting organisations and legislators: This 2020 study assessed 46 trans-identified males in the US Air Force. After 1 year of testosterone suppression, these males still retained a significant advantage in run speed (with females in the Air Force as a control group).
Transgender Women in the Female Category of Sport: Perspectives on Testosterone Suppression and Performance Advantage: This 2020 study is a systematic review of longitudinal studies examining the effects of testosterone suppression. The conclusion: “[T]he loss of lean body mass, muscle area and strength typically amounts to approximately 5% after 12 months of treatment . . . the muscular advantage enjoyed by transgender women is only minimally reduced.”
How does hormone transition in transgender women change body composition, muscle strength and haemoglobin? Systematic review with a focus on the implications for sport participation: This 2021 study is a systematic review of research on long-term testosterone suppression. The authors found that even after 3 years of hormone therapy, trans-identified males retained an advantage in lean body mass (LBM), muscular area, and muscular strength.
I’ll conclude this section by noting that athletic competitions regularly come down to the smallest differences among competitors. In other words, even a “small” advantage is enough to destroy fair competition for women.
“Lots of athletes have genetic advantages”
It’s impossible to dispute the evidence that males have an unfair advantage in women’s sports. So, many trans activists resort to the desperate ploy that “lots of athletes have genetic advantages!” In their telling, higher testosterone is just another one. If your friend has heard this argument, it’s easy enough to refute. When a male competes in women’s sports, every woman he competes against is at a disadvantage for having a female body. Women don’t deserve to be marginalized in their own sports, regardless of any male’s feelings. Trans activists often discuss the need to “compromise” between fairness and inclusion. But when institutions compromise fairness for female athletes, they’ve already taken a side, and it’s not ours.
Conclusion
I think many liberals have ignored the issue of males invading women’s sports, because they view it as a first-world problem. This ignores the critical role athletic opportunities play in empowering women. Millions of women have relied on athletic scholarships to pay for college, and 80% of female Fortune 500 executives played competitive sports. As more female athletes lose out on scholarships or quit instead of competing with males, the effects will ripple far beyond women’s sports.
Most of all, women deserve an arena to celebrate the power and resilience of female bodies. Given our physical vulnerability to men, most women know what it’s like to feel helpless. Rallying around superstars like Mia Hamm and Serena Williams gives us an all-too-rare opportunity to celebrate female strength. Forcing women to tolerate male dominance in sports, just like the rest of our lives, is the worst kind of misogyny.
Women are told we have to consider how trans-ID males’ feelings might be hurt if they can’t compete in female sports. In other words, “trans inclusion” is a euphemism for treating women’s trophies as consolation prizes for victimized males. But that’s the most audacious gaslighting of all. Trans activists have no right to claim ultimate victimhood when sporting bodies have systematically prioritized them at the expense of women. It’s long past time for this house of cards to fall, and I hope these resources help gender-critical feminists to bring it down. Happy Terfing!
Will definitely be sharing (and likely using for my future videos as well). Great resource, and great compiling!